Comparative genomics reveals a constant rate of origination and convergent acquisition of functional retrogenes in Drosophila.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Processed copies of genes (retrogenes) are duplicate genes that originated through the reverse-transcription of a host transcript and insertion in the genome. This type of gene duplication, as any other, could be a source of new genes and functions. Using whole genome sequence data for 12 Drosophila species, we dated the origin of 94 retroposition events that gave rise to candidate functional genes in D. melanogaster.

Results

Based on this analysis, we infer that functional retrogenes have emerged at a fairly constant rate of 0.5 genes per million years per lineage over the last approximately 63 million years of Drosophila evolution. The number of functional retrogenes and the rate at which they are recruited in the D. melanogaster lineage are of the same order of

SUBMITTER: Bai Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1839131 | biostudies-literature | 2007

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature